With each wrapping up his first season on the job, Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone and head coach Stephen Silas took time to reflect during a Tuesday press conference at Toyota Center.
The Rockets (17-55) finished with the NBA’s worst record in 2020-21, which is the first time that’s happened in nearly 40 years (1982-83). Yet, there’s reason to believe that the lowly record was at least somewhat exaggerated, thanks to the forced early-season trade by James Harden coupled with an historic wave of injuries up and down the roster. In theory, the Rockets should be healthier and less chaotic in 2021-22.
Topics addressed in Tuesday’s press conference included:
- Highlights from the 2020-21 season
- The future of pending free agents, such as Kelly Olynyk
- Targeted areas of offseason development for young prospects such as Jae’Sean Tate, Kevin Porter Jr., and KJ Martin
- The importance of the NBA’s June 22 draft lottery and potentially winning a top pick
- Strategies in the July draft and August free agency
- Balancing short-term upgrades for 2021-22 with long-term needs
- The desirability of Houston as a destination for star players, coming off a bad season
See below for a roundup of Tuesday’s key takeaways from the chat with Stone and Silas, along with select video from the event.
Stephen Silas: "I'm excited about the group, I'm excited about the organization, and I'm excited about the future."
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) May 18, 2021
Stone re-emphasized that the Rockets are not doing a wholesale rebuild and would like to compete. https://t.co/cSzAWVunaN
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) May 18, 2021
Rafael Stone: "Eric Gordon is like a consummate professional basketball player, so how can it not be helpful to practice alongside him"
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) May 18, 2021
Stone referred to Wood, KPJ, Tate, KJ Martin, Eric Gordon, and John Wall as players he thinks will be in Houston "for a while."
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) May 18, 2021
Rafael Stone says one of the most encouraging part of the season was the play of Christian Wood. https://t.co/UkotWAaPZN
— Coty M. Davis (@CotyDavis_24) May 18, 2021
"I'm excited about the future…It doesn't happen often when you lose as much as we did and still are so optimistic & excited about the future and about the group," #Rockets HC Stephen Silas today at his end of season availability.
— Adam Wexler (@AdamJWexler) May 18, 2021
Stephen Silas jokes that he'd have to watch YouTube highlights on a guy and then ask him to play 30 minutes that night
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) May 18, 2021
Stone: "We traded for Kelly (Olynyk) at the trade deadline, and he loved his time here."
"I think the reality that Houston is an amazing city. It's a destination city in the NBA. I'm positive that everyone in the NBA likes Stephen (Silas). I think this is really attractive."
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) May 18, 2021
Stone: "I'm not concerned about people wanting to be here. I'm confident we'll have people who really, really want to be here." #Rockets
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) May 18, 2021
Stone: We need talented basketball players. We have some and those guys have opportunity to get better over the offseason.
We’re just going to try and bring in the best basketball players we can, whether through the draft or free agency.
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) May 18, 2021
Rafael Stone says John Wall is "fired up" about next season with the Rockets https://t.co/Mdno9kbq8U
— Adam Spolane (@AdamSpolane) May 18, 2021
Silas on John Wall: "John was really good for us."
Says he worked himself "probably beyond where he should have," in terms of nagging injuries.
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) May 18, 2021
Stephen Silas: "If we would've had our full group for the full season, we probably wouldn't be talking about any of this." #Rockets
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) May 18, 2021
Stone: We only have one MLE, sometimes you divvy that up, other times you use it on one player.
I promise I’ll be aggressive. I promise we won’t be out worked. I’ll do my homework on everyone
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) May 18, 2021
Rafael Stone on Houston's roster crunch: "We have guys that other teams want. There are things we can do if we wanted to create a roster spot."
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) May 18, 2021
